Pleading the 8th
By Lauren Bramwell

“Excuse me sir, would you like to sign a petition to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment?”

Brace yourself for impact.

The man’s eyes grew large as he processed my question. His gray eyebrows barreled inward as his lips tightly pierced together. The air was hot and muggy. Nearby a child was crying, the band was playing, and I could hear the laughter of the volunteers at the booth directly beside me. I watched perspiration build on the man’s forehead- his face dripping with disapproval.

Here it comes.

“Go talk to victim’s families- see what they have to say about you wanting to abolish the death penalty,” he said. “Those people-- those people on death row deserve to die.”

Shonda Waller, Oklahoma, victim’s mother:
"I don't see any justice in just sentencing someone to die… after everything I've been through, I wouldn't want his family to suffer the way I've suffered…I wouldn't wish that on anyone.”

The man’s words were angry and jagged. Spit flew with every syllable.

Breathe, Lauren.

“Every single one of ‘em deserves to die- who cares if they suffer.”

--“Suffer.” I watched the word bleed from his mouth without a sign of remorse.

Dennis McGuire
January 2014, lethal injection (used midazolam)
“He gasped deeply. It was kind of a rattling, guttural sound. There was kind of a snorting through his nose. A couple of times, he definitely appeared to be choking." – Columbia Dispatch Reporter
Pronounced dead at 10:53 am

A woman with a floral print dress and a sun hat chimes in, “You know, I just wish the appellate process didn’t take so long. If they’re guilty they are guilty. Get it over with and save the state money.”

A total of 154 people have been exonerated from death row after being wrongly convicted.

The system is not infallible. Even with the appeal process, the state has killed inmates who have later been found to be innocent. Their corpses are rotting in a cemetery—they’re oozing with false hope and unfair persecution. Their headstones ought to read: “Here lies an innocent victim of the state.”

The woman in the sun hat continues, “Plus, I support the death penalty because of the deterrence factor.”

A 2009 survey revealed that over 88% of criminologists believe the death penalty is NOT a deterrent to murder.